Shloka 15
आत्यन्तिक-लयहेतुः: तापत्रय-विवेचनम् तथा ‘भगवान्/वासुदेव’ शब्दार्थः
Threefold Suffering and the Path to Final Liberation; Meaning of Bhagavān and Vāsudeva
अधोमुखो वै क्रियते प्रबलैः सूतिमारुतैः क्लेशैर् निष्क्रान्तिम् आप्नोति जठरान् मातुर् आतुरः
adhomukho vai kriyate prabalaiḥ sūtimārutaiḥ kleśair niṣkrāntim āpnoti jaṭharān mātur āturaḥ
Driven by the powerful winds of birth and pressed by suffering, the being is turned face-downward; distressed, it gains escape from the mother’s womb.
Sage Parāśara (in dialogue with Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How the jīva is expelled from the womb by forces beyond its control, illustrating bondage to nature
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: compassionate
Concept: The jīva’s entry into the world is driven by overpowering natural forces and suffering, showing that embodied life begins in compulsion, not sovereignty.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: Replace pride of autonomy with surrender and ethical restraint; orient life toward liberation rather than mere survival and pleasure.
Vishishtadvaita: Human dependence is fundamental; the jīva’s true agency is fulfilled in śaraṇāgati to the Lord who alone can free it from karmic compulsion.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
It grounds the doctrine of saṃsāra in a concrete, bodily reality—showing that entry into embodied life is compelled by forces and accompanied by suffering, underscoring the need for liberation.
He presents the jīva as distressed and driven outward by powerful forces, emphasizing helplessness under karmic momentum and the unavoidable transition into worldly experience.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the process is implied to occur under the Lord’s sovereign cosmic law—birth, suffering, and order functioning within the divinely governed structure of saṃsāra.